Centre Discusses Criterias For New IT Hardware Import Regime With Stakeholders

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) reportedly held discussions with industry stakeholders on Friday on two criteria for the import licensing regime for IT hardware.

The proposed changes involve linking imports of hardware, including laptops, tablets, personal computers, and small servers, to a company’s local production value and its export value of electronic devices such as mobile phones, and wearable devices, Business Standard reported. 

The companies dealing in hardware imports will earn credits on the basis of their exports and domestic production. These credits can be used further to cover the costs of importing goods, the report said.

“There was a miscommunication earlier that we were imposing a mandatory import licensing regime. But what we plan to do is manage the import of these products,” a source was quoted as saying. 

The meeting was conducted to discuss how to abide by the proposed changes in the import regime and get the stakeholders’ feedback, as per the report. 

In order to reduce India’s dependence on imports of such products and boost local manufacturing, the government is likely to assign a quota for four years to each company for import of hardware products. The quota will gradually decrease year-on-year.

Last month, the Centre imposed restrictions on import of laptops, tablets, and personal computers with immediate effect. However, the deadline was then deferred till October 31 following representations from companies.

The government has assured that the new regime will not disrupt the supply chain for these products. 

In order to lure IT hardware companies to manufacture in India, the Centre recently also invited applications for INR 17,000 Cr product-linked incentive (PLI) scheme 2.0. As per reports, the government has received applications from around 38 companies, including Dell, HP and Foxconn, for the scheme. 

However, IT original equipment manufacturers recently urged the government to extend the October 31 deadline for implementation of the licensing regime for importing IT hardware.

Prior to this, global tech giants including Apple, Intel, Google, and Dell reached out to the US government to convince the Indian government to reconsider the new import regime.